Why Houston, the "Petro Metro", is embracing electric cars

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"Why on earth would Houston, the city of drill-baby-drill, the fossil-fuel capital of America, the city whose NFL franchise used to be called the Oilers, embrace the electric car? For good reason, it turns out–so says the city’s mayor, the local utility company, Reliant Energy, its parent company NRG Energy and NRG’s CEO, David Crane.

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While Houston may lack the green culture of, say, Portland, Oregon, the city wants to welcome electric cars for a couple of reasons, Crane explained.

First, west Texas has an abundance of cheap wind energy (See my blogpost, Electricity That’s Cheaper Than Free) that is available overnight and during periods of low demand to recharge electric cars at a low cost.

Second, Houston has a serious smog problem. The EPA is proposing tougher limits on ozone pollution, which contributes to smog, and those limits 'will force Houston to make deeper emissions cuts just as the former smog capital met the previous standard for the first time,' according to The Houston Chronicle. Cities that fail to comply with EPA air pollution rules run the risk of losing federal highway funds."

http://theenergycollective.com/TheEnergyCollective/60021?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29

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1. We might get Houston's former mayor as our Govenor.

and I'm sure he worked hard to green the city. All that has to happen is Kay Bailey supporters staying home on election day.